February 5 2012

11:53 PM

Sticky Situation: Kyle Stanley's shot of the day came
on the 71st hole of competition. He drove into the desert at the
short par-4 17th, where his golf ball lodged under a cactus.
Stanley hooded a 56-degree wedge and the ball left the clubface
spinning left. The shot found the green and, two putts later,
Stanley was on the 18th tee with a two-shot lead, on his way to
redemption.

Bloody Sunday: Spencer Levin wanted a win so badly that he
also walked into a cactus in the desert to play a shot. On the 15th
hole, he stood in the middle of a prickly situation, ripping the
fabric on his shirt and tearing his flesh. Levin got down low and
swatted at the ball with his putter, knocking it into the first cut
of rough. While the shot bloodied his back, his next play was even
more painful as Levin hit into the water short of the green. He
played the par-5 15th hole in 3 over this weekend and lost by
two.

Using Your Crane-ium: Ben Crane finished second and putted
well the whole week. He took 28 putts on Thursday, Friday and
Saturday, then took 27 strokes on Sunday. He one-putted the first
four holes and led the tournament in par-5 scoring at 12 under. For
a player who claims, "I didn't hit it well all week," Crane jumps
into 6th place in the FedExCup standings.

Phil Falls: Phil Mickelson started the final round at 8
under in a tie for 10th. He tumbled 16 places to finish tied for
26th. Mickelson hit just 23 of 56 greens, which ranked him 77th in
the field for futility. Phil needs to sharpen his driving, but the
putter is just fine. Mickelson took just 107 putts for 72 holes,
the second best total in the tournament.

Nailed It: Kyle Stanley missed just three putts inside of 10
feet for the entire tournament. He also made three putts outside of
25 feet this week, yet he took 31 putts on Sunday and ranked 63rd
in the field for total putts taken. The reason for the large number
of putts? Stanley hit 57 of 72 greens, including 16 of 18 on
Sunday.

Fred Albers is a course reporter for SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio
and is inside the ropes this week at the Waste Management Phoenix
Open. For more information on SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio,
click
here.